Seeing Ghosts
by ShadowFanGirl728
Summary: A creature is stalking Sonic and Shadow and wants blood. The only thing, the creature is supposed to be dead. Meanwhile, Shadow begins to have visions of Rouge, his fiance, dying in place of Maria. Now, they're both seeing ghosts everywhere they look.
1. Chapter 1

Number 657 didn't seem like a suitable name for any human being. But 657 wasn't a normal being. Born in the high tech labs of the Black Doom, 657 was what some would call a lab rat. 657 was no rat, mind you, she was a raven, but her correct animal species mattered not to the Black Doom. Oh no, she was just a number to him. An expendable life. 657 didn't appreciate that.

657, like the rest of creatures the Doom made, was taught that the Black Doom was great, the Black Doom was good. The Black Doom gave you life, love him for it. And like any lapdog eager for praise, 657 had followed the Black Doom and did everything he said. So naïve, she should have known better. But hindsight is 20/20; it didn't change anything now, anyway.

Her life changed on a mission to retrieve data on the Space Colony Ark. However, upon arrival she and the rest of the Doom's group was ambushed by the humans. Dealing with the mortals was easy, but then something else came. It was like a blue wind. There was also a black blur. No matter how many bullets she pumped into him, he kept standing. Everything happened so fast, too. She only remembers so much from that night, the hedgehogs, the red logo that read G.U.N., and the dying screams of her comrades. She came back to the Black Doom barely alive and empty handed. She had expected his sympathy, but he was instead furious. 657 couldn't believe the way he yelled and shouted. She asked what he was going to do, he said he'd replace them. 657's brothers and sisters, her blood. That's when she came to the conclusion that the Black Doom didn't care. That's when her plan was devised.

That night she went to the Black Doom. He was asleep. So she took a grenade, put it next to his head, left his quarters and closed the door behind her. Then she went to the engine room of Doom's space station and filled it to the brim with explosives. She proceeded to get in an escape pod, wait until she was a good distance away, and press the detonate button. Then she set the coordinates to the G.U.N. headquarters, and is now readying to make her mark.

The G.U.N. security agent didn't notice the approaching creature at first. It was dark and it was small. However, as it approached, he could make out the definite shape. When it got in his light he asked the first question.

"Identify yourself!" Her only response was silence.

"What is your business here?" This time she pulled up a gun. The poor guard's last move was him pressing the security button.

657 had made it closer to the heart of the base, and with every turn she made down the long hallways about twenty-five men fell to her trigger finger. As she started down another hallway, multiple bursts of gunshots drove her back and behind cover.

"Damn," she muttered, but like all wounds, the tiny red holes in her skin quickly disappeared. Then she heard one of the humans shout.

"Charge 'er!"

657 raised her guns and every single mortal dropped down and joined with the slowly spreading pool of blood. When the last one was gone she continued down the hall, her goal now in sight.

Commander Thomas Daniels was not one to get nervous. As the leader of G.U.N., he had faced what he believed much worse than the intruder that currently terrorized G.U.N. personnel. However, he wasn't sure. One of the trespasser's first moves was to cut off power. None of the security monitors worked, so all he knew about the perpetrator was that he had a gun, and he knew how to use it.

Daniels released his gun's safety. He could hear him now that the shots had stopped, and he was getting closer. He said a quick prayer, not like he was religious, but he was starting to hope there was a God. The footsteps stopped outside his office door. Daniels ducked behind his desk, his only cover. His eyes fleetingly locked on a picture of his family on his desk. His wife and two daughters smiled at him, totally ignorant of the danger outside his door. He closed his eyes and prayed one more time. He prayed to see his family again.

657 didn't even bother to check if the door was locked. She just attempted to kick it down, but it held strong. She tried again, but failure was all that awaited her. Her target was behind the door. She couldn't give up. Not now.

She stepped back and charged the door. This time her hard work was rewarded. The door gave a little. 657 gave the last obstacle a kick, and it flew open, revealing what would look like an empty office. She knew better. She approached the desk in the corner. It was the only place to hide, so it was most likely inhabited by her first target.

This was when Daniels flew out from behind his cover, firing rounds into the creature in front of him. With a quick cry, 657 dived down and at Daniels feet. Her momentum brought the commander tumbling face down. His attacker took this quick moment of confusion to catch her breath and wait for her wounds to heal like they naturally do. The grounded Daniels aiming at her head interrupted her break. Without thinking, she took her own gun and fired three shots in his general direction. One hit his right hand and caused him to drop his only weapon. 657 wasted no time in kicking his accursed gun away from the commander. She then aimed her own at his head.

"What do want," Daniels breathed through the pain in his hand.

"Commander, you don't remember?" 657 asked with false innocence.

It took Daniels but a second to place his soon to be killer at the Space Colony Ark. He was there with Shadow and Sonic, two of G.U.N.'s top agents, and they were destroying one of Doom's teams. She was there, but she died with the rest of her group. He was sure of it. He would've sworn that each member was laying slain when he and his followers made their exits. Yet here she was. A living ghost.

"You're supposed to be dead!"

"Yeah," she said, a sickening smile leaking on her lips, "but sometimes things don't go as they're supposed to."

She raised the gun to meet his head. Once again he looked at his picture. Her eyes followed his.

"Look at that," she said mockingly, "the murderer's got a family."

"I'd be ruining their lives if I shot you, won't I?" she said, her face showing the thought brewing in her mind. Was it worth it?

"Yes," Daniels was running out of options, but he knew if she felt anything at all, she wouldn't kill him, a man with a family, "Let me go, I won't arrest you, I won't kill you, I'll let you go. Please, you don't need to do this. You may hate me but they haven't done anything to you, don't hurt them by killing me."

She thought about it.

"I don't care about them," she said mercilessly as she pulled the trigger.


	2. Chapter 2

There was sound everywhere. The sound of guns, sirens, and approaching footsteps. Shadow lived this nightmare one to many times to be afraid of it, however. That didn't stop him from trying to change the end.

"Hurry," he spat through gritted teeth, tightening his grip on his follower's hand. He'd had this dream a thousand times before. He knew Maria was behind him. He knew soldiers followed. He knew she was going to die.

He ran through cold, merciless corridors flashing red in a strobe like effect. It was messing with his vision. Maybe that's why he couldn't save Maria; he couldn't see right.

"Shadow," he heard her cry. She was scared.

_Damn_, he thought, _she was just a kid_. But wait… Was that Maria's voice he'd heared, or someone else's?

He didn't bother to think about it, just charged through the door to where the escape pods were. He tried to push Maria in the one in front of him, wanting to change what would happen. But she grabbed and literally threw Shadow in first.

_Threw… Maria's not THAT strong_. Shadow steeled himself to turn to Maria. But it wasn't Maria. It was Rouge.

"_ROUGE_!"

Shadow awoke with a start, cold sweat trickling down his face, his heavy breathing disrupting the previous silence.

"Shadow, what's wrong," he heard Rouge say with concern. He turned to look at her. Even with no makeup and nothing more than a night gown on, Rouge was still sexy. He must have just woken her.

_Oh yeah,_ he reminded himself, _I'm in Rouge's bed._

"Nothing," he sputtered, embarrassed, "just a bad dream."

A little smile pulled at Rouge's lips. She crawled closer to him and attached herself to his arm and buried her face in his neck. He took a moment to inhale her sweet scent.

"Then I'll protect you from all the monsters in your sleep," she murmured, splaying her left hand over his chest. A flash of moonlight caught the diamond that rested on her finger. He had surprised her by proposing, and she had surprised him by saying yes. He could always see Maria though, staring at him with her big eyes, reminding him of what he had. But that was his past, and Rouge was his future. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. He'd protect her.

Sonic stared at the blood stained walls of what used to be one of G.U.N.'s many headquarters.

"About fifteen survivors," he heard Tails confirm behind him.

"In the ENTIRE headquarters," Sonic asked doubtfully.

"It must have been multiple intruders," Tails voiced, "enough to do this much damage."

"No doubt not all of them got through unscathed. Maybe we could test for blood?" Sonic asked, but he knew the answer.

"There's too much blood," Tails said, making his way further down the corridor, "All we'd find is the guard's blood."

Sonic followed him down the hall, careful not to trip over one of the many bodies. They made their way to their destination, the control room, the one room that the intruders were stupid enough to leave intact. At least it looked that way.

"They cut the power," the G.U.N. officer told them as they approached, "We got nuthin'."

Sonic's disappointed sigh filled the empty hallways.

"Do we know anything at all about the intruder?" Tails asked the question gnawing at his mind.

"The intruder took this path through the base," he started toward the wall, where a fire escape plan hung. He traced his finger down a pretty straight path with a few turns. "He stopped here," he pointed at the main office, "that was Commander Thomas Daniels' office."

"I know him," Sonic said, "we went on an op together a couple months ago."

"He's dead now," the officer stated bluntly. "One shot in the right hand, one in the head. I'll let you decide which one was fatal."

"Was anything at all taking?" Sonic wondered, attempting to make sense of the situation.

"Nuthin'," the officer shook his head, "His only purpose was to kill the commander."

"And the entire G.U.N. population," Tails muttered under his breath.

"Just find his enemies," Sonic pointed out, but he knew it was pointless. The officer didn't even dignify it with a response. EVERY terrorist organization would benefit from this. It'd take too long to bother with tracking them down.

"We'll just go…" Tails gestured toward the door. He was eager to get out. So was Sonic, know that he thought of it. The base hadn't been cleaned yet, and the place smelled of death.

"Yeah, not much to do, I suppose," the officer mused as he led them out, "Unless you want to help me fill out paperwork?"

Sonic was already gone.

657 watched the blue one carefully through her rifle's scope. He was fast, and would prove a challenge. He always had the fox with him, too. That would make things difficult. But 657 would pull through, she always did. _Should their deaths be fast_, she asked herself, _or perhaps I should make them suffer_. She had never bothered to think about it before. When she killed the commander she was nervous, and wanted to end it quickly. But the others, maybe she should plan something special. A twisted smile spread on her face and she lowered her rifle. Her mind flashed images of the hedgehogs screaming and crying in agony. _Revenge_, she thought, _is such a sweet, magnificent thing._


End file.
